We are still in lockdown currently in New Zealand, though we are slowly moving down the levels. Sadly, this means that COVID-19 vaccine myths are still floating around on social media and across the dinner table. In my last blog, I looked at some of the insanity surrounding five COVID-19 vaccine myths, so today I aim to finish what I started with five more.

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Myth 6: The COVID-19 vaccine is making people magnetic.

Reality: I want you to really think about this; people are claiming that a vaccine is giving them magnetic powers. Now if Magento or Doctor Polaris were claiming this, my reply would be, “How could you tell?”

Human magnetism; it sounds like the next step in human evolution, but it’s not. There have been numerous people involved with articles, photographs and video footage, around this subject. They are claiming that after they have received the COVID-19 vaccine (I don’t think it’s been cleared up which one they are talking about), metal objects like phones, spoons, knives, forks, etc, can now stick to their body.

I saw some hilarious footage in America, with people standing up in court to testify that the COVID-19 vaccine had made them magnetic, because of microchips in the vaccine or some other insane reason.

Let’s clear this up quickly, not a single case of magnetism has been found, by someone receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s not possible.

To clarify:

• There are no metallic, microelectronics or magnetic materials in the vaccines.
• There is nothing in the vaccine that can produce the electromagnetic force, at the vaccination point or in your body.
• A dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is usually less than a millilitre, which means the shot is too small to carry a microchip.
• You have iron in your blood, but it’s not ferromagnetic; which means it’s not receptive to magnetism. This means it can’t build or interact with an electromagnetic force field.
• If you were a human magnet, only steel or iron objects would be an attracted to your body, not silver ones, like in the anti-vaxxer videos.

To me, this myth is utter garbage, so please ignore it.

Myth 7: The COVID-19 vaccine makes women infertile.

Reality: The old anti-vaxxer crazy train, is breaking new ground now. Apparently, thousands of women across the world, have been made infertile by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine; in addition to the claim that a woman could be made infertile, simply by standing next to a vaccinated person. Really?

I believe these misinformed people think that while different drug companies have been developing the vaccines, they never thought about testing pregnant women?! Really?

Throughout the different vaccine trials and phases, pregnant women, women that are trying to conceive and those that are breastfeeding were studied, and no adverse effects on fertility were seen. Source: Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at NYU and Bellevue Hospital.

The COVID-19 vaccine does not cause infertility in women. If it did, it would not have been approved by medical authorities for public use.

Myth 8: The COVID-19 vaccine gives you COVID-19.

Reality: Anti-vaxxers want you to believe that by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, you are actually having the virus injected into you, so then, you’ll get sick.

Some COVID-19 vaccines do contain an inactivated or weakened version of the virus, to stimulate your immune system, however you can’t catch COVID-19 from this. mRNA vaccines like Pfizer, do not have any live or dead strains of COVID-19. You can not contract COVID-19 from a COVID-19 vaccine. This is nonsense, once again.

Myth 9: People that are vaccinated are catching COVID-19, proving the vaccines don’t work.

Reality: Let’s break this statement down; firstly, the notion that some people that have been partly or fully vaccinated, have contracted COVID-19, is actually true. It is.

However the problem with this is not calling the efficacy of the vaccines into question, but rather explaining how vaccinated people can contract COVID-19. These people are called breakthrough cases, and the reasons why this happens, can be quite varied.

No vaccine is 100% proof, so the vaccine is different from one person to the next, in terms of their immune system and immune response. Your immune response can be weakened or boosted by medications, age and overall health, and people with a weakened immune system, do have a higher chance of becoming a breakthrough case.

Having a COVID-19 vaccine does not make you 100% bullet proof against COVID-19, but it can lower the risks of you being infected, supported by social distancing, mask wearing, wash handing and using sanitisers. The largest group in the community that has the greatest risk for transmission for the virus are the unvaccinated. It’s a simple, but tragic fact.

If 100 people were exposed to COVID-19, it means that 80-90 vaccinated people, would not get any symptoms, but 10-20 people may get symptoms, with 5 people needing hospitalisation. The COVID-19 vaccines actually do work.

Myth 10: People are dying after receiving the COVID-19 vaccines.

Reality: It’s true, there has been reports of some people that have received the COVID-19 vaccine have died, but correlation doesn’t equal causation. An example of this issue is the serial killer scenario. Let’s say serial killers prefer to kill people during summer or hotter months. This might mean, that during this period serial killers would eat ice cream as a treat; therefore we can link serial killers and ice cream! Eating ice cream turns you into a serial killer!

But eating ice cream does not turn you into a serial killer, just the same as people dying after their vaccination, does not mean the vaccine killed them. You could discover that 500 people were vaccinated over 24 hours in your home town. After a week, you track them all down to gauge the effects of the vaccination, only to discover that 5 people have died.

You assume that the one thing they all had in common was the vaccination, so you assume that the vaccine killed them, because they died after the vaccination was given to them. However, you later learn that two people were killed in car accident, one person had a heart attack, one person drowned and one person was shot.

It’s true, all five people died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, but the vaccine did not kill them. They could have died for any reason, especially if there was an underling health issue. Correlation does not equal causation.

Conclusion: Vaccinations, in my small and humble opinion, could quite possibly be the single greatest invention in human history and also the world’s best tool to eradicate diseases, that cause avoidable deaths in children and adults.

Basically, you don’t get the COVID-19 vaccine for yourself; you get it for your grandparents, your children, the people that are immune compromised or people for other medical reasons, that can not take the vaccine. You get the vaccine to protect other people, like others are doing it for you. By protecting other people, you protect yourself. Any 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon character could tell you that.

I received my first COVID-19 vaccination on Sunday 5th September, which was Father’s Day. It was a Father’s Day present, but it wasn’t for me; it was for UMC1 and UMC2. Also, I have not gained magnetic powers; big surprise there!

If you are unsure about the vaccine, please go and talk to your doctor about your vaccine concerns. It’s alright to have concerns about the vaccine, but please talk to a medical professional about it.

I think the COVID-19 vaccines are miracles, but that’s just my geeky opinion. For the next blog, I’m going to debunk the myths surrounding masks, because the anti-vaxxers are not staying in their lane.

Until then, mask up, get a vaccine, wash your hands, and look after yourselves and your families.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in a few days!